James Joyce's creative world revealed by personal papers

Rarely-seen letters and documents belonging to famous Irish writer James Joyce go on display at the University of Reading from Tuesday, 7 October.

‘James Joyce: Enigmas & Puzzles’, opens in the Staircase Hall exhibition space at The Museum of English Rural Life, and runs until 9 February 2026.

Joyce’s novels like Ulysses and Finnegans Wake rank among the world’s most famous books for their deeply complex wordplay, codes and puzzles. But Joyce’s personal papers show a different side to the man behind the pen. 

Guy Baxter, Head of Archive Services at the University of Reading, said of the Solange and Stephen James Joyce Collection: “Letters and documents previously hidden from public view reveal Joyce as a caring father who wrote stories for his children. 

“The papers also show Joyce had many friends who were writers and artists. His social circle included people from all over Europe, proving he was much more connected to other people than many readers might expect.”

Health problems made writing difficult for Joyce throughout his life. The exhibition shows the clever ways he found to keep working despite illness and deteriorating eyesight. These personal solutions helped him create some of literature's most challenging and influential works.

Books from the Joyce family library will be displayed alongside letters, manuscripts, family photos and personal artefacts, revealing the author’s love of words and languages. Unpublished letters from Joyce’s patron, Harriet Shaw Weaver, will also be on display.

Why is James Joyce’s collection in Reading?

The University of Reading has collected rare books and archives ever since its formation in 1926. The Solange and Stephen James Joyce Collection forms part of the University of Reading's Special Collections.

One of the Special Collections’ greatest strengths is its resources related to the Nobel Prize winning Irish author, Samuel Beckett, which is among the largest Beckett collections in the world and officially Designated by Arts Council England as an outstanding collection. The Samuel Beckett Collection is regularly consulted by academic researchers, students, directors and actors studying Beckett.

Beckett was a close friend of his countryman James Joyce. When Joyce’s grandson, Stephen James Joyce, sought to deposit his own and his grandfather’s archive with a collection, he opted to donate it to the University of Reading in 2022, uniting Joyce’s collection with Beckett’s.